True Identities
by a7xlover56
Summary: Robin forgets one of his necessities, causing questions to be raised about who he really is. Oneshot.


Robin awoke from a dream filled sleep, sitting up and stretching his sore arms. It was the first night he had actually slept in a while; usually his nights were spent patrolling or watching the security cameras.

Or, some nights, Robin would fall asleep at his desk filing paperwork, only to wake up in the morning, papers crinkled, still in his uniform.

So it was a rare morning like this when Robin actually felt rested. Being a hero, you're never guaranteed an uninterrupted night of sleep. Villains don't care whether you're tired. True, Robin had adapted to this far better than the others, but that didn't mean he still wasn't exhausted in the mornings. Who wouldn't be after repeatedly having to pull all nighters?

Then there were the nights when Robin couldn't fall asleep even when he tried. Stress usually was the cause of this. He had far more responsibilities than a boy of his age should. Most fifteen year olds were worried and troubled about a stray pimple, while Robin had his team and his entire city to protect.

He got out of bed and walked into his bathroom, using the restroom and washing his hands before walking back out and towards the main room without bothering to check his appearance. Who cared if his hair looked like shit? He'd just gotten up. The Titans had seen far worse from Beast Boy, who once forgot to put clothes on _at all_ before coming in to make breakfast. Robin's brain was _still_ scarred from that particular incident.

He reached the doors, walking through and going straight towards the coffee pot. His routine was always the same: coffee, tv, training. Four loud gasps came from around the room, startling him and causing him to look up. Had someone broken in?

Looking around, he deduced this was not the cause. Instead, he looked at the rest of his team, who all had their mouths open, gaping at him. Raven and Starfire were even blushing. Since when did Raven blush?

_What did I do?_ He thought. _Surely my hair doesn't look that bad. And my choice of clothes can't be it, either. It's just a t-shirt and a pair of baggy sweatpants._

Robin suddenly had the feeling that there was something majorly different about him. Perhaps his face had broken out overnight? He raised a hand to feel his cheeks when, of course, he felt nothing. No zits. No cuts. His hand moved up a little higher.

That was when he knew.

_He wasn't wearing his mask._

"FUCK!" he yelled, covering his face and turning around to run out the door before a wave of black energy prevented it from opening.

"Raven,_ let me out!"_ His stress level was rising by the second._ Nobody was supposed to see behind the mask! _That thing made him who he was!

"Robin, it's okay! We don't care if-"

"I care, Beast Boy! Raven, let me out!" Robin was startled by the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

"Robin, we're your friends. We don't care if you wear a mask or not. None of us wear one," Raven admitted softly in an attempt to calm the dark-haired boy down.

"No, you can't see... Nobody was _ever_ supposed to see..." He answered, panic thick in his voice. The rest of his friends were speechless. They had never known that his mask meant so much to him.

"Dude, it's just a mask-" the changeling was interrupted again by the troubled boy.

"No, it's not just a mask. You don't understand." Robin turned to face them, his wide, pained blue eyes so unfamiliar to the team. He trembled as he continued to speak.

"That mask is what makes me Robin. Without it, anyone can identify me. Figure out my name. Use it against me. Target what little family I have left." Robin stopped, slapping an ungloved hand over his mouth as his friend's mouths dropped yet again. He had just given something else away. Just_ how_ _much_ about him were they to find out in one day?

"Robin, what happened to your family?" Cyborg finally asked the question that Robin knew was coming. He turned back around to face the doors and sighed. The doors were free now, he could leave when he wanted... Walk out and not tell them...

But that wouldn't feel right. They already knew what he looked like. Besides, he trusted them with everything he had. It would just be hard to finally tell someone who he was.

The rest of the Titans were astonished as he started to speak.

"My parents and I were acrobats in Haly's Circus. A broke gang wanted to find a way to get money from the circus. They put acid on the wires and, well, you can guess the rest." Robin nearly tore himself apart, making an effort to not cry in front of his friends. Eventually he gave in, letting the silent tears roll down his bare cheeks. There was no need to hide it. The four remaining Titans took him in a group hug in an effort to comfort him as he softly sniffled, the tears running noiselessly down his cheeks. Nobody said anything. No words were needed.

Robin stood engulfed by the warmth of his friends, his final tears beginning to dry into his cheeks. Slowly, one by one they let go to give him a bit of space. They knew he liked his freedom.

"My-my name is Dick Grayson."

Robin turned and slowly walked out the door without another word.

Reaching his room, he walked in past the swishing door and went straight for the mirror in his bathroom, putting his hands on the sides and sighing yet again. He looked awful, his eyes swollen, the bright blues of them muted by the redness. Smirking his famous Robin grin, he realized that his hair looked no different from what it usually did. He mustn't have rolled at all in his sleep. That definitely hadn't been the cause of his friends' gaping.

His grin faded as he remembered why they had.

They knew who he was now.

_They knew his name._

Before, the thought of this would have sent him into a full-fledged panic attack.

But now, he was kind of okay with it.

Walking towards his bed, past his desk, instinct told him to pick up his mask and put it on.

But he didn't. He walked right past it. There was no need to wear it anymore.

He would repeat this quite a lot in the future.


End file.
